It is time to Pledge to “Image Gently”
It is almost a year since the Image Gently campaign was launched (www.imagegently.org). In that time many medical physicists, radiologists, technologists and others have taken the “Image Gently” pledge. The Alliance goal is to change practice: to raise awareness of the opportunities to lower radiation dose in the imaging of children. The Alliance1 has chosen to focus first on computed tomography (CT) scans. The dramatic increase in the number of pediatric CT scans performed in the United States in the past five years and the rapid evolution, change and availability of CT technology and equipment well justify this Alliance strategy. Over the next 18 to 24 months the Alliance plans to expand the philosophy to “Image Gently” to additional modalities such as interventional radiology, general fluoroscopy, nuclear medicine and MR.
The Pledge: Recognizing that every member of the imaging team plays a vital role in caring for the patient and wants to provide the best care, I pledge:
- to make the image gently message a priority in staff communications this year
- to review the protocol recommendations and, where necessary, implement adjustments to our processes
- to respect and listen to suggestions from every member of the imaging team on ways to ensure changes are made
- to communicate openly with parents Thank you for committing to the goal to image gently when you image children.
Spread the word in your department, practice, hospital or clinic.
To help with communicating with parents the Alliance has developed a downloadable brochure titled “What Parents Should Know about Medical Radiation Safety”.
So if you haven’t taken the “Pledge” do so now!
1 The Alliance for Radiation Safety in Pediatric Imaging – the Image Gently Alliance- is a coalition of health care organizations dedicated to providing safe, high quality pediatric imaging nationwide. The primary objective of the Alliance is to raise awareness in the imaging community of the need to adjust radiation dose when imaging children. The ultimate goal of the Alliance is to change practice. The founding members of the Alliance are the American Association of Physicists in Medicine, the Society for Pediatric Radiologists, the American College of Radiology and the American Society of Radiologic Technologists.